It Wasn't Jealousy
by Serena Thorn
Summary: Written for VM Redux on LJ. Lamb hadn’t been so clueless to not know how the evidence locker had been left open.


Title: It Wasn't Jealousy  
Rating: PG-13 (Lamb's mouth)  
Summary: Written for VM_Redux on LJ. Lamb hadn't been so clueless to not know how the evidence locker had been left open.  
Spoilers: 1x11  
Word Count: 708  
Disclaimer: Veronica Mars is not owned by me, but by Rob Thomas. I'm simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.

* * *

"Where'd the pizza come from?" Lamb asked the new deputy who had been left to the man the phones.

"The place on the corner," Leo answered, unsure why his boss seemed so interested for once. He hadn't been there long but from what he had seen this wasn't usually how the sheriff reacted to the sight of a pizza box left on a desk.

Lamb still remembered the days when Veronica would bring Keith his lunches and dinners a little too well. He chose to blame the fact the she had been doing it again since Keith had been working with them on the E-String Strangler case.

He smiled tightly. "You're sure it didn't come from a tiny, irritatingly perky blonde?" he asked, forcing himself to keep his voice controlled and his hands straight so as not to strangle someone himself in that moment.

Leo didn't even have to answer for Lamb to see it. He slammed his office door the second he was inside. Still no new leads on the case, Keith was acting as though he was lead when it came to the suspects and obviously Veronica had stopped by while he wasn't there. Before he could think of just how much worse his night could get he could see from a crack in his blinds that the evidence locker door was slightly ajar.

"Of course," he muttered. That little bitch. It wasn't bad enough he had to suffer her flirting with one of his deputies, now she had made off with some evidence.

Lamb decided to be nice for once. Of course he would have to suspend Leo, but he waited until after the E-String Strangler case had been solved, they had saved the latest would-be victim and he almost managed to keep Veronica from his mind while he took the kid's badge and gun.

Of course there was a slight thrill for Lamb later when he saw Veronica and Leo talking, Leo wasn't happy, Veronica looked apologetic, but Leo hadn't accepted her silent apology. Lamb couldn't help but smile slightly.

_Same old story: Girl uses boy, girl falls for boy, boy saves girl's dad's life, girl gets what she deserves,_ Veronica thought to herself as she watched Leo walk away.

Lamb kept his blues on her, knowing she couldn't see him from where she was. It wasn't jealousy. His deputy shouldn't have been distracted by her, should have been sitting there having dinner with her, shouldn't have left her alone long enough for her to get into the evidence locker and take whatever she had gotten.

It wasn't because he remembered the days when he had been her favorite deputy, when they would eat pizza together while waiting for Keith and the others to get back. Besides, back then she could be trusted in the building. Now? Well, it was clear just how much had changed.

"What do you want?" Veronica spat when she walked by him, finally catching his stare.

"Just wondering what it is you did to my deputy to make him dumb enough to risk his job here," he shot back.

"I didn't do anything."

"Right," Lamb grinned. Then he leaned down to whisper against her ear, "You forgot to lock up after you got done in the locker."

"You suspended Leo for that when you knew he didn't do it?"

"He should have known better than to leave you alone in here. It was his poor judgment, thinking with the wrong head, that got him suspended."

"And you're known for using your upstairs brain?" she smirked. Then she shook her head. "Get over it, Lamb - unless you enjoy sounding jealous of Leo."

Lamb's eyes flashed in anger before he stomped off. He wasn't jealous. Certainly not of his _deputy_. So what if she had done something with D'Amato that they used to do together back in the old days? He didn't miss those nights. Never thought about them. Wouldn't even be thinking about them now if it hadn't been for Keith being back these last few days.

And that was what Lamb continued to repeat to himself for the rest of the night. If he could make himself believe it he just might get some sleep tonight.

The End


End file.
